Dr. Elizama Montalvo brings a wealth of diverse training and a philosophy of patient empowerment to her Puerto Rico based practice. A Board-Certified Family Practitioner and a Classical Homeopathic & Acupuncture Physician, Dr. Montalvo integrates various disciplines and modalities to offer thorough, informed diagnosis treatment and educate. Enrolling patients in the process of recovery and wellness, she equips them with sound nutritional programs and tools to make healthy lifestyle changes. Changes that she adopted to her own life nearly 20 years ago, when she realized the strong connection between health and whole foods, stress management and spirituality. On February 2015, she become the first medical doctor in Puerto Rico to receive her board certification in Integrative Medicine.

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Montalvo graduated cum laude with a major in Chemistry from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez. She became a Doctor of Medicine after four years of study at the Universidad Central del Caribe MedicalSchool, in Bayamon Puerto Rico and did her post doctorate training in the Family Medicine Residency Program as part as Department of Social Medicine at Montefiore Hospital & Medical Center in the Bronx. It is at Montefiore, where she was exposed to “alternative ways of healing”, mind-body therapies, homeopathy, acupuncture and how social issues affects the health of an individual and communities. She is eternally grateful, because that desire of finding ways to assist people to this day continues.

Five years of training in Classical Homeopathy prepared Dr.Montalvo to offer patients this whole system of care and complimentary approaches to curing illness and promoting good health. This mission began with Introduction to Homeopathic Medicine, a two-year program at the Atlantic Academy of Homeopathic Studies in New York City. She studied for another two years with the Dynamis School of Advanced Homeopathic Studies in London, then moved on to the New England School of Homeopathic Studies in Massachusetts. Dr. Montalvo has completed several advanced seminars since that time, including; “Homeopathy and Attention Deficit Disorder” with Dr. Paul Herscu in New York City and Another with Vassilis Ghegas, M.D. in Cape Cod Massachusetts. She has completed courses in Cancer Guides, Food As Medicine 1 & 2; and Mind, Mood & Food, under auspices of The Institute for Mind Body Medicine in Washington D.C.

A Diplomat of the American Board of Family Practice since 1990, Dr. Montalvo practiced, End of Life Care at Guadalupe Hospice, in Ponce Puerto Rico, until December 2011. In 2011, she received a certification from Cornell University in Plant Base Nutrition. Currently is focusing on several projects that includes her private practice in Ponce; and some teaching projects to the community at large using the platform of Slow Food organization and the Slow Healing campaign. Dr. Montalvo considers herself, a ” Whole Food Advocate”. Her wide-range of experience enables her to provide caring and expert treatment to patients from all walks of life facing a vast array at Leake Watts Children Services, Lincoln Medical Services and the Sidney Hillman Health Center, The Door Adolescent Health Services , all in New York City, also in Migrant health Center Western Region Inc. under the auspices of the National Health Services Corp. in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. Currently, Dr. Montalvo hold appointments as an assistant professor at the Ponce School of Medicine, and Universidad central del Caribe (UCC) and was medical director of the CUMIC ( Centro Universitario de Medicina Integral y Complementaria ) clinic at the Universidad Central del Caribe in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Certification in Herbal Medicine from RoseMary Gladstar Herbal Program.

The benefits of growing your own organic food, in a small space; is tremendously rewarding for Gustavo Albarran. Gustavo created a vegetable garden in a small space (10×20) of his backyard; in Yauco, Puerto Rico. With basic gardening tools, a creative spirit, some available time and willingness to preserve a healthy lifestyle. Gustavo’s garden skills demonstrates you don’t need a large farm or vast financial backing; to enjoy simple tasty food. Here are some reasons from Food Matters, that may change how you view your backyard.

1. GET THE NUTRITION YOU NEED & ENJOY TASTIER FOOD!
Many studies have shown that organically grown food has more minerals and nutrients that we need than food grown with synthetic pesticides. There’s a good reason why many chefs use organic foods in their recipes—they taste better. Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, which eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and, ultimately our bodies.2. SAVE MONEY
Growing your own food can help cut the cost of the grocery bill. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars and month at the grocery store on foods that don’t really nourish you, spend time in the garden, outside, exercising, learning to grow your own food.

3. PROTECT FUTURE GENERATIONS
The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. Food choices you make now will impact your child’s future health.

4. PREVENT SOIL EROSION
The Soil Conservation Service estimates more than 3 billion tons of topsoil are eroded from Puerto Rico croplands each year. That means soil erodes seven times faster than it’s built up naturally. Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic farming. However, in conventional farming, the soil is used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical position so they can be chemically fertilized. As a result, PR farms are suffering from the worst soil erosion in history.

5. PROTECT WATER QUALITY
Water makes up two-thirds of our body mass and covers three-fourths of the planet. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates pesticides – some cancer causing – contaminate the groundwater in 38 states, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country’s population.

6. SAVE ENERGY
Puerto Rico farms have changed drastically in the last three generations, from family-based small businesses dependent on human energy to large-scale factory farms. Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of the country’s totally energy supply. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest all the crops in Puerto Rico. If you are growing your own food in the city, you are cutting down on transportation and pollution costs.

7. KEEP CHEMICALS OFF YOUR PLATE
Many pesticides approved for use by the EPA were registered long before extensive research linking these chemicals to cancer and other diseases had been established. Now the EPA considers 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides and 30 percent of all insecticides carcinogenic. A 1987 National Academy of Sciences report estimated that pesticides might cause an extra 4 million cancer cases among Americans. If you are growing your own food, you have control over what does, or doesn’t, go into it. The bottom line is that pesticides are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can also harm humans. In addition to cancer, pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic mutations.

8. PROTECT FARM WORKERS & HELP SMALL FARMERS
A National Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides had six times more risk than non-farmers of contracting cancer. In California, reported pesticide poisonings among farm workers have risen an average of 14 percent a year since 1973 and doubled between 1975 and 1985. Field workers suffer the highest rates of occupational illness in the state. Farm worker health is also a serious problem in developing nations, where pesticide use can be poorly regulated. An estimated 1 million people are poisoned annually by pesticides.

Although more and more large-scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic farms are small, independently owned family farms of fewer than 100 acres. It’s estimated the United States has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the past decade. And the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted that half of this country’s farm production will come from 1 percent of farms by the year 2000, organic farming could be one of the few survival tactics left for family farms.

9. PROMOTE BIODIVERSITY
Mono-cropping is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year. While this approach tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients. To replace the nutrients, chemical fertilizers are used, often in increasing amounts. Single crops are also much more susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides. Despite a tenfold increase in the use of pesticides between 1947 and 1974, crop losses due to insects have doubled—partly because some insects have become genetically resistant to certain pesticides.

10. HELP BEAUTIFY YOUR COMMUNITY
Besides being used to grow food, community gardens are also a great way to beautify a community, and to bring pride in ownership

Health advocate is a designated clinical consultant, who organizes a wide variety of health care-related support and educational services to maintain, improve, and manage health of a patient or a client. Clinical health advocates are generally nurses, doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners that have had some experience in the healthcare field or a specialty. There are health advocates who are social workers with an experience in the health care setting. Although most health advocates are clinicians, health advocates can also be non medical professionals who may have had a personal lengthy experience with a condition or may have helped a love one suffering from a certain health condition.

Health advocate will assist client/patient navigate the healthcare system to address any health care needs. Health Advocate can help patient/client with learning about their health benefits, programs, and resources. Advocate can prevent illness or adverse outcome for a patient/client by identifying health risks early. Experienced medical health advocates can effectively help a patient/client manage his/her healthcare by removing obstacles, providing timely access to care, delivering personalized care and promoting safe/quality outcomes.

Health Advocate provides health advocacy to a patient/client in all stages of their health continuum.

Co-Manage

• Acute health care issues

• Co-Morbid Issues

• Chronic Conditions

• Complex Catastrophic Issues

Identify

• Healthcare Quality Issues

• Healthcare Resources

• Special benefits/programs

Assist

• Insurance Issues

• Prescription plan

• Referrals

• Denials

• Appeals

Coordinate

• Doctors or Specialist

• Hospital or Facility

• Ancillary Provider

• Second Opinions

• Discharge from Facility

• Family or Loved Ones

Collaborate

• Doctor or Specialist

• Ancillary Providers

• Family or Loved Ones Negotiate

• Out of Network Charges

• Level of Care

Educate

• Insurance terms

• Procedure/Surgery

• Disease process

• Preventive Health

• Test, Treatment, & Drugs Review

• Plan Benefits

• Community resource

• Employer resources

Provide

• Communication tools

• Research on condition/diagnosis

• Center of Excellence

• Doctors and Hospitals

• Facilities

• Ancillary Services

A separate and identifiable field of health advocacy grew out of the patient rights movement of the 1970s. This was clearly a period in which a “rights-based” approach provided the foundation of much social action. The initial “inspiration” for a “patient bill of rights” came from an advocacy organization, the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO).[3] In 1970, the NWRO list of patients’ rights was incorporated into the Joint Commission’s accreditation standards for hospitals,[4] and, interestingly, reprinted and distributed by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective—authors of Our Bodies, Ourselves[5]—as part of their women’s health education program. The preamble to the NWRO document became the basis for the Patient Bill of Rights adopted by the American Hospital Association in 1972.[6]

Patient advocacy, as a hospital-based practice, grew out of this patient rights movement: patient advocates (often called patient representatives) were needed to protect and enhance the rights of patients at a time when hospital stays were long and acute conditions—heart disease, stroke and cancer—contributed to the boom in hospital growth. Health care reformers at the time critiqued this growth by quoting Roemer’s Law: a built hospital bed is a bed likely to be filled.[7] And more radical health analysts coined the term “health empires”[8] to refer to the increasing power of these large teaching institutions that linked hospital care with medical education, putting one in the service of the other, arguably losing the patient-centered focus in the process. It was not surprising, then, that patient advocacy, like patient care, focused on the hospital stay, while health advocacy took a more critical perspective of a health care system in which power was concentrated on the top in large medical teaching centers and a dominance of the medical profession.[9][10]

The field of health advocacy also has deeper roots in the voluntary organization sector of society, where the early health advocates were more typically advocating for a cause, not for an individual. These health advocates preceded hospital-based patient advocates and are part of a long history of American involvement in social organizations.[11] They were activists in social movements and voluntary associations including civic organizations, women’s associations and labor organizations, and in the early disease-specific non-profits like the American Cancer Society (founded as the American Society for the Control of Cancer in 1913) or the March of Dimes (founded as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in 1938). In the early part of the 20th century these advocates came to their work through other professional routes, often as social workers, attorneys, public health nurses or doctors. They were the Progressive era “new women” of Hull House and the Children’s Bureau,[12] the American Association for Labor Legislation[13] leaders of the movement in 1919 for national health insurance, the nurses who worked with Lillian Wald to advocate for indigent health care through Visiting Nurse Services[14] (1893), or with theMaternity Center Association[15] (1918) to advocate for maternal and infant care for poor immigrants. They obtained their professional education in other disciplines and then applied it to health.

Health advocacy also has 20th century roots in community organizing around health hazards in the environment and in the workplace. The Love Canal Homeowners Association, for example, was founded in 1978 by Lois Gibbs and others concerned about the high rate of cancer and birth defects in the community. These grass roots advocates often begin with a concern about perceived “clusters” of disease. The Newtown Florist Club on the south side of Gainesville, Georgia was founded by women who pooled their money to buy wreaths for funerals in their community; in the 1980s they began to recognize that there were “far too many deaths due to cancer and lupus in the neighborhood. ‘That put us on a wonder,'” said one resident, and now their advocacy includes toxic tours of the community.[16] Health disparities and issues of environmental justice are often the focus of advocacy for low income and minority urban residents, and like West Harlem Environmental Action (WE ACT), their advocacy for environmental justice encompasses health concerns.

In developing nations, groups such as Blue Veins may face additional difficulties getting their messages out.

Recently disease specific advocacy and environmental health advocacy have come together, most noticeably in the adoption by advocates of the “precautionary principle”. Somebreast cancer advocacy groups in particular, argue that “prevention is the cure”, when it comes to untested exposures that could be carcinogenic. Rachel’s News[17] is one example of such combined environmental and health advocacy information.

In the early 1990s Healthcare Advocates, Inc. determined that lobbyists (advocates) were helping the masses, but there were no organizations helping patients, one patient at a time. They developed a new model of advocacy that allowed patients to access the services directly thereby resolving the issues associated with access to care and reimbursement through their employers.

By 2007, it was recognized that outreach to most patients who would need personal assistance from health advocates would have to come from the private sector. Individuals, some with backgrounds such as nursing or case management, and others who had experience helping loved ones or friend navigate the healthcare system, began establishing private practices to provide those services to client-patients. A new organization, The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates,[18] was founded to support those new private advocates, plus those considering such a career, with legal, insurance, marketing and other business advice.

The Visiting Nurse Associations of America (VNAA) is also a nonprofit association which is a health advocate for its nonprofit visiting nurse agencies and homehealth providers. The VNAA related to DC from Boston in 2008 to be able to be a strong health advocate for its members.

Health advocacy encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocates support and promote the rights of the patient in the health care arena, help build capacity to improve community health and enhance health policy initiatives focused on available, safe and quality care. Health Advocates are suited best to address challenge of patient-centered care in our complex healthcare system. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines patient-centered care as: Health care that establishes a partnership among practitioners, patients, and their families (when appropriate) to ensure that decisions respect patients’ wants, needs, and preferences and that patients have the education and support they need to make decisions and participate in their own care.[1] Patient-centered care is also one of the overreaching goals of health advocacy, in addition to safer medical systems, and greater patient involvement in healthcare delivery and design.[2]

Patient representatives, ombudsmen, educators, care managers, patient navigators and health advisers are health advocates who work in direct patient care environments, including hospitals, community health centers, long term care facilities or patient services programs of non-profit organizations. They collaborate with other health care providers to mediate conflict and facilitate positive change, and as educators and health information specialists, advocates work to empower others.

In the policy arenas health advocates work for positive change in the health care system, improved access to quality care, protection and enhancement of patient’s rights from positions in government agencies, disease-specific voluntary associations, grassroots and national health policy organizations and the media.

There may be a distinction between patient advocates, who work specifically with or on behalf of individual patients and families, or in disease-specific voluntary associations, and health advocates, whose work is more focused on communities, policies or the system as a whole. Often, however, the terms “patient advocate” and “health advocate” are used interchangeably or depending on immediate context.

Rapidly growing areas of health advocacy include advocates in clinical research settings, particularly those focused on protecting the human subjects of medical research, advocates in the many disease-specific associations, particularly those centered on genetic disorders or widespread chronic conditions, and advocates who serve clients in private practice, alone or in larger companies.

Food is medicine – that’s the mantra of culinary medicine, it’s the best way to prevent, treat and even reverse illness. Develop a healthy diet to fight obesity, diabetes, arthritis, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and depression. Even your cancer risk could be reduced – over 80% of cancers are caused by controllable lifestyle factors, which include diet.